How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence (2018)

Pollan begins his journey into psychedelics by laying out the history of the drugs, which “would change the course of social, political, and cultural history, as well as the personal histories of the millions of people who would introduce them into their brains” (1). The focus of this book revolves around two compounds: lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin.

Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938. He did not intend to create a drug with psychoactive effects but was looking for one that stimulated circulation (2). Five years later he accidentally ingested the compound and realized there was something special about it.

Psilocybin has been around for thousands of years in the form of a small mushroom, and it was long used by indigenous cultures in Mexico and Central America long before its popularization (2). It was originally used as a sacrament before it was driven underground by Spanish conquest.

These two compounds have a reputation linked to the rise of counterculture in the 1960s, which became central to the tone of that decade. By the end of the decade the excitement of experiencing an “acid trip” gave way to fear about bad trips, panic, and negative experiences.